Comb tail Bettas

I was thinking about breeding one of my male bettas and I was thinking I would breed him to a crown tail female to create some comb tails. He is a rose tail, not a half-moon, and I haven't been able to figure out what that cross would create. He is a pet store betta, but I was thinking about buying a female from a breeder to cross him to. I am thinking about using a 20 gallon for a breeding tank. I'm a little confused on how to get food for them also, but I can start another thread for that. I know this is probably not a good idea, but I really want to breed this male. He is my favorite fish and I want to keep a baby of his. I was thinking about breeding crown tails anyways. I have my eye on some females and males that I like, but am just thinking about the right time to buy. Ive read a little bit about people breeding rose tails to half moons, and I've considered that too, but I don't want to get babies with way too heavy fins. My male's fins aren't that heavy, my double tail half moon has heavier fins than him. He is also a very calm fish. I've never seen him flare at anything but his own reflection. I have another male next to him and he could seem to care less. Has anyone ever seen a cross between these two types or have any advice about breeding. I am thinking if the babies don't come out that great that I'll give them away for free. I'm going to try to set up some homes even before I start breeding. I'm not so worried about finding homes for crown tails. I think those would sell just fine. This is not the first time I've thought about breeding this male. And I am definitely going to do a lot more research before I breed.
I know people say its a bad idea to breed pet store bettas, but I really like this one, and I think he would create beautiful babies. I want some help, but not criticism about what I am trying to do.

 

well, if you are not experienced with betas, best way is NO.

you need ATLEAST three tanks one for babies, one for female, one for boy

 

Doesn't every breeder start from somewhere? That's why she's asking questions isn't it? Give her some useful tips because I'm curious too. About betta care in general.

 

Breeding pet store bettas is fine, just be prepared to have lots of tanks and containers for the fry. Are you prepared to raise them? It's a lot of time and work.

For live foods, look into daphnia and baby brine shrimp.

 

The offspring, I think, would likely look like spiky feather tails - I don't agree with the pet store betta thing; i've seen some boys/girls that are comparable to the ones you can get from breeders.
When the males get aggressive towards each other they need to be "jarred" separately, while most often the females can be kept together if you have a large enough tank. (You may need a second grow-out tank because the babies will produce a no-grow hormone that stunts small babies - it is a way for them to get the fittest and more food for themselves since they can take out those that are weaker.) I'd recommend at least a 20 gallon for a grow-out starting tank. The females would need an even bigger tank since they can get pretty big.

TexasDomer has it right, daphnia and bbs - you want to be careful when raising the fry because they need water changes to maintain their water (you could get anywhere from 25-300+ fry from one breeding, so it gets pretty gunky fast with that many babies).
It is not just time and work, but can be quite a bit of money to put into breeding (@Flowingfins spent a large sum on her projects - she also ordered bettas from breeders to get certain types - I have a male I spent three bucks on that I will end up pairing with a female I have spent eleven bucks on, I also have yet to find a crown tail female I like enough to put with another of my males - I have the tanks to do it *20 long and a 58 gallon for females* - I have a total of maybe 200 dollars right now for the fish and supplies, but most of mine are pet store bettas that caught my eye.)

 

Doesn't every breeder start from somewhere? That's why she's asking questions isn't it? Give her some useful tips because I'm curious too. About betta care in general.

well I haven't finished my sentence yet(I was busy doing something and forgot...)

and those are just warnings, and breeding bettas you need to have atleast one backup plan. if nobody is going to a "bad person" and telling those warings,than the person may end up with two dead bodys. you see...


flowingfins are currently breeding bettas, shes the best person to ask.

as far as I know, you need to have live baby brine shrimps, or micro worms as a food source. plus you need to give the parents good live food before introduce together.

 

Babies need to be fed micro worms for the first few days, then BBS. Daphnia and vinegar eels are supposed to be really good too. The thing with baby bettas is that if you feed too much of one food they can develop issues. Too many microworms and you get missing ventrals, too brine shrimp and you get swim bladder issues. The key is variety and lots of water changes. I have a 10 gallon spawn tank, a 20 gallon, two ponds, and a 100 gallon all for grow out.10 breeders(I have kicked Kevin out of this group) microworms, BBS, IAL, an ungodly amount of soda bottles, an endless supply of bacopa for the spawn tank. I have spent almost $1,000 on this, it's costly and time consuming.
I haven't even scratched the surface of what you need to know about breeding. If you want me to tell you don't hesitate to ask.

As for the combination, I would try a half moon to breed him with. Comb tails aren't really desirable. If you really want to try it you could but you might have trouble rehoming the fry.

 

LoL! Right pianoguy. You forgot. Nice save. Ha!

 

um..... How big are female bettas when you can breed them. My two are little squeaks. They look like babies. And they must be hungry because they keep trying to eat my bacopa plants

 

I believe female bettas need to get an egg spot before they can breed.

Here are some links for you these are also stickys in this forum:

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/step-by-step-guide-to-breeding-bettas.37434/

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/so-you-want-to-breed-bettas-responsible-breeding.89909/


It's honestly not something I would ever do due to one I love my betta too much to see her damaged (or dead), two space, and three it's very expensive. Plus the local shops wouldn't be able to take all the fry just a certain amount.

 

They should be around 1 1/2 - 2 inches. You need to condition them beforehand too.

 

Ok. They are a little small, but both have visible egg spots. I tried to put them together but they fought and one of the girl's in missing a little finnage on top. Poor baby. I separated them as soon as I noticed they were fighting. I'm not going to breed them right away. First I'm going to get an extra ten gallon, or maybe another bigger tank. How big of a tank do they need to be able to grow to full size??

 

A divided 10 should suffice for the girls. You are going to want at least a 50 gallon if you breed them though.

 

yeah I was thinking about that. I'm working on getting the divided 10 for the girls. Just need to get the tank and buy a divider. Ive been saving a 10 gallon found at a yard sale because I broke my other 10 gallon by accident Right now they're in my 16 gallon with Frosty, but now Coco has no where to go. I tried putting him in with my ADFs but one of them attacked him so I removed him immediately. Right now he's in a fairly large breeding net in the same tank as Mac. I can see if I can get my other 5 gallon running. I was going to see if my parents would let me put it down stairs. I don't think they would mind a pretty betta to look at. I hope I don't end up with the same tank problem as last time Not being able to get enough tanks for the fish. I won't breed this time until I get the right supplies. This is easier than livebearers because I can choose when to breed them, they don't just breed themselves. I could probably do with just the extra 10 and a 50 gallon. I can use the 50 gallon to breed them and then also use it as a grow out tank.

 

You'll need more tanks/containers than that - each male needs his own space and aggressive females will too. If your parents are already protesting your tanks (like they did with your livebearers), then you should wait a few years until you have your own space and can control what you purchase.

 

I know. I'm planning on moving out soon. I was thinking about waiting until then. I will probably have to buy a house, since most places I could rent wouldn't want me having a whole fish breeding program in the house. I know that's a lot but I plan on working full time. I'm currently searching for a job so I can move out.

 

and this isn't exactly...beginner...fins have TWO ponds, man one is 900 gallon and 1 is 200... as you can see, IF u can move out, you still...really CAN lose fish...

by like some accidently mistakes etc...

 

I have a way with animals. I think I can do this. I understand that it's hard.

Would a 20 gallon high work or should I get a 20 gallon long. My artistic eye doesn't like the 20 gallon long. The 20 gallon high is much more pleasing to the eye.

 

Would a 20 gallon high work or should I get a 20 gallon long. My artistic eye doesn't like the 20 gallon long. The 20 gallon high is much more pleasing to the eye.

For what purpose?

20 gal longs are better than highs because they provide a larger footprint.

 

For a breeding tank. A 20 long would probably be better. I just don't like the way they look. I would much rather buy a 30 gallon than a 20 long

 

For a breeding tank. A 20 long would probably be better. I just don't like the way they look. I would much rather buy a 30 gallon than a 20 long

A 30 gal is rather high for a betta.

I'd be more concerned with getting enough tanks and containers for the fry.

 

Would a 50 gallon be to high? Or a 55??? I could always not fill it to the top

 

If you read the links I gave you it talks about how to properly setup a breeding tank, including tank size. I would honestly follow that. 50 or 55 gallons would also be pretty high. Bettas like going up for a breath, that is why their tanks can't be too high.

 

I was talking about a grow out for fry. For spawning a 10 gallon is is big as I would go.

 

agree with fins.

 

ok. I will figure it out, somehow

 

My Boy isn't building a bubble nest and the girl is right next to him?????

 

Give it some time. What have you been feeding them?

 

blood worms, brine shrimp, and pieces of regular shrimp and a little bit of fish flakes

I took out one of my dividers. they didn't even notice each other for a while, then I put her in a cup so he could see her and after that he chased her around for a while, but now they are totally ignoring each other. No damage was done to either of them. Frosty is not that aggressive, and the girl just seems scared of him.

 

I took out one of my dividers. they didn't even notice each other for a while, then I put her in a cup so he could see her and after that he chased her around for a while, but now they are totally ignoring each other. No damage was done to either of them. Frosty is not that aggressive, and the girl just seems scared of him.

I thought you were going to wait until you had the proper setup to start breeding? You really should at least have all the separate containers for the young males and females setup before trying to get them to have fry. You're kind of playing with fire this way.

 

I know. I just get really anxious and want to move quickly. I don't think this time will work. And what do you mean by proper set up? I set up the tank so that my female has lots of places to hide. I took some of the water out because your not supposed to have too much water in the tank when your breeding. And its two months before any of the fry need to be separated. I think I have time. Yes, I am a little crazy, but this is just the way I do things. I like to play with fire. Please don't insult me after I say this. I just feel like I am very different from many of the people on this forum. I tend to get into arguments, as you probably know, because of this. I know you are probably just looking out for the fish, but don't worry, I am taking good care of them. Frosty did get bitten up a little, but he can't seem to catch the female so she doesn't have a single scratch on her. I also left some floating things in the tank for frosty to build a bubble nest in. I am also getting an extra ten gallon from my grandpa tomorrow I think, so I will have that set up in no time, with three tanks running, I've got loads of water and I can start a tank up like nothing. I'm supposed to get money soon, so I'm thinking about getting a 20 gallon long as a grow out tank and maybe another 10 or 20 to divide up for homes for the fish. I think I'm going to use my 16 gallon as a spawn tank for the fish. If this spawn does work, I'll start Comb tail bettas part two.

 

I know. I just get really anxious and want to move quickly. I don't think this time will work. And what do you mean by proper set up? I set up the tank so that my female has lots of places to hide. I took some of the water out because your not supposed to have too much water in the tank when your breeding. And its two months before any of the fry need to be separated. I think I have time. Yes, I am a little crazy, but this is just the way I do things. I like to play with fire. Please don't insult me after I say this. I just feel like I am very different from many of the people on this forum. I tend to get into arguments, as you probably know, because of this. I know you are probably just looking out for the fish, but don't worry, I am taking good care of them. Frosty did get bitten up a little, but he can't seem to catch the female so she doesn't have a single scratch on her. I also left some floating things in the tank for frosty to build a bubble nest in. I am also getting an extra ten gallon from my grandpa tomorrow I think, so I will have that set up in no time, with three tanks running, I've got loads of water and I can start a tank up like nothing. I'm supposed to get money soon, so I'm thinking about getting a 20 gallon long as a grow out tank and maybe another 10 or 20 to divide up for homes for the fish. I think I'm going to use my 16 gallon as a spawn tank for the fish. If this spawn does work, I'll start Comb tail bettas part two.

Well it's your fish you can do anything you want with them. Fish keeping does take patience though, especially something as delicate as betta breeding. You aren't doing things properly, I really wish you would read the links I gave you on responsible breeding and steps to take. Are you going to get $1000 dollars soon, 'cause that is probably the minimum I have seen for a proper breeding and fry setup.

You will need more then just one 10 or 20 gallon divided up for fry when they grow out, you need separate containers for each fry, bettas can have hundreds of fry.

Also old tank water won't cycle a tank, so that won't help you when setting up a new tank. You can use some filter media from an old tank to instant cycle a new tank.

I would at the very least listen to Flowingfins whom is breeding bettas in a proper setup. I mean I'm not really into breeding, but it's better to me when it's done responsibly, with the animals' health in mine.

 

I understand you find breeding your fish to be exciting, but what is the rush?

To say that you like playing with fire is to say that you don't mind if your fish or their offspring get hurt, as long as you can do this thing that you find entertaining. Maybe that's not the way you see it since you consider yourself different. But you're not being different. Many people irresponsibly breed bettas all over the world, irresponsible meaning that hundreds of fish with weak genetics get born and thrown away with each spawning.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. I know by now that trying to advocate for your fish will not convince you to do the right thing. So I'll try to appeal to you through another angle: By responding to your posts we're trying to help YOU too. Please don't be one of those many irresponsible people who get in over their heads. Please be a breeder who is mature and has the knowledge, space, compassion, and money to do this. That kind of breeder is worthy of respect from other fishkeepers and betta lovers. If you practice that, the arguments on your threads will stop.

 

I didn't mean that I wouldn't mind my fish getting hurt. I love my fish so much. I don't like to see them hurt. But again they are just fish. I had this whole long thing written but my computer turned off in the middle of it so I lost it all and I'm staring again.
For one, What is your definition of a proper breeding set up or program, or whatever it is called??? I do understand that I need separate containers for each fish. And I am going to buy them.
For two, you need to understand that I am very picky with my fish. I only buy ones that are beautiful and very healthy. I also refuse to sell fry that are sick, way too small, weak, deformed, or ugly. I will simply put these fish down with clove oil. I do not breed for numbers, I breed for quality. Out of a spawn of 100 I would be happy only keeping 15. I am really into doing things naturally, though you can probably say that i'm not doing that but as I go I will make things more natural for my bettas. And I keep so little because this is how many would survive in the wild.
Three,
I separated the other bettas and tried a new pair. My male tried to embrace the female right away, and I think this will be a good pair. He had a bubble nest going in his tank, but I had to destroy it because I lowered the water to exactly 15 centimeters high. I took out all of the sand I could without taking all the water out of the tank. I put a piece of driftwood and a rock in there for my female to hide in, around, and behind. I left one side of the tank without anything but a floating piece of bubble wrap. Sorry but no leaf, I might get one later, but I don't have one right now. I am going to remove the female at nights at half way through the day. She is currently floating in a betta cup. I will wait for my male to build a bubble nest before I put the female in, so the eggs have somewhere to go. He is currently checking out the female but is not showing many signs of aggression and she is not flaring either.
I'm going to continue feeding them the frozen food I made, or I may make a special blend with Mysis shrimp in it and maybe another kind of worm other than blood worms it I can find some. I will also buy some frozen shrimp and cut it up into small pieces and add that to the mix. I will probably also add betta pellets to the mix too.
I am going to continue to do more research about breeding bettas in my spare time.
And I have a few questions:
Why does it cost $1000 to breed bettas??? Does that include the cost of buying the tanks to keep them in and all the supplies for them, because I've already got a lot of that covered. I probably have over $500 dollars put into tanks and equipment, probably even more than that. I Have two five gallon kits, two ten gallon kits, a sixteen gallon kit, and a 15 gallon kit. Plus I upgraded some of the filters and heaters to aqueon ones. I've also spent a lot of money on live plants for my tanks and pieces of driftwood.
And to interrupt my questions, you need to know that this is how I work. I will try to rush things, and then when that doesn't work I will slow down. Just because I tried to breed my bettas doesn't mean I'm not going to end up spending the time and doing it the right way
Back to the questions, can you separate the fry early, like maybe at a month or earlier. I don't want antI growth hormones messing with the fish. And i'm fine with waiting until they develop fins and egg spots to tell if they are male or female. Would that in any way stunt their growth? Sounds like a stupid question, but still asking it.
I was thinking about spending some money and buying them Lee's betta keepers, the .75 gallon ones. I was thinking about selling them with them. I know its too small for them to be kept in forever, but I think most people keep them this way??? I kept them in things smaller when I was a kid.
Finally, the betta that I'm breeding to the female is Mac, if you know which one he is from my previous threads. Really, looking back I haven't mentioned him that much. There is a picture of him in my betta fin type thread, but he looks quite a bit different now. He was also the subject of my betta swimming around like crazy thread. He was actually my last choice to breed, I hadn't even considered it, but after seeing him interact with the female, I think this could work.
By the way, the females I have are Pip and Squeak and I have a baby male named Mica. I'm pretty sure he's going to be a crown tail, he already has the little spikes coming off of his tail.

 

You can divide the spawn so that the larger ones stay together and the little ones are able to grow better.

The cost is everything involved, from the parent fish to the tank setups to raise and keep the parents and spawn to the food and other items they need to grow up - then of course the effort of homing them *either by lps or having friends that want to take them*.

 

I guess at this point all I can say is good luck then. You don't seem to actually want to follow people's advice and you are going to keep rushing and breeding, and doing things your way no matter what since to you they are "just fish."

 

Am I the only one in disbelief here? How can you love and care for Bettas you refer to as " just fish "? And when you say you'll just kill the ugly and deformed ones, I'd expect you to say " I'm gonna hate doing that" but instead you say "in the wild only 3 survive". Here's what I think, I think you're gonna get in over your head, they won't sell or re-home as fast and you'll just kill every one of them except for the most beautiful and perfect one...maybe and then move on to the next fascination. Your kind of thinking really creeps me out. What's the point of asking for advice if you have no intention of taking it?

Now I won't ignore the fact that you mentioned you have procured quite a few tanks and are willing to make quality food for them. I get that you're trying to but you aren't there yet. My concern is you seem very nonchalant about the issues that so commonly affect Betta breeding. All we are saying is wait for a bit and get your setup together. That's it. Wait and do it right the first time. You must be prepared for these things they have mentioned. Fins BREEDS Bettas, that's firsthand experience here, first hand! And she has given you sound advice and you won't even consider it?

And for goodness sake don't promote that 'Bettas in small things' mentality please I beg you. I don't care what "most people" are doing. Anything less than 1gal is animal cruelty. 2.5 should be the minimum....And I'm pretty sure you're gonna buy those Betta keepers anyway. Smh

 

Drizygirl, you've told us before that your dream is to breed fish and own a store. I'm beginning to think that this dream isn't because you love fish ("they're just fish" after all, right?), but because you want to create a setting where other people can't hold you accountable for your actions. I also find this creepy. If this store ever opens, I won't give it my business.

These conflicts keep coming up in your threads. They aren't insults, even if you are offended. We give advice when you ask for it and try to steer you in the right direction when you're making selfish choices. We hope you listen and realize that you and your desires are not the most important thing in the world. Rushing into things and then slowing down isn't how you work as a method. It's a lack of self control.

You're dealing with living things. If they're just fish to you, then you don't value them. If you don't value them, how can you hope to fulfill a dream of becoming a breeder? Buyers need to respect you and your methods if you want to sell the fish you breed.

You'll be offeded by this. So be it. I apologize for being harsh but I won't take back anything. How else will you think about these things if we don't bring them to your attention?

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I DO LOVE FISH. I love all animals. Animals are my passion. None of you apparently understand what I'm trying to say, so let that be the end of it.

 

I'm Done